Introduction

According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO, 1999) sustainable tourism development, including food tourism should meet the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. The development of sustainable tourism stipulates the following requirements:

• Tourist resources should be preserved in such a way that allows them to be used in the future, while benefiting today’s society.

• The planning and management of tourist development should be con-ducted in a way that avoids triggering serious ecological or socio-cultural problems in the region concerned.

• The overall quality of the environment in the tourist region should be preserved and, if necessary, improved.

• The level of tourist satisfaction should be maintained to ensure that destinations continue to be attractive and retain their commercial potential.

• Tourism should largely benefit all members of the society (WTO, 1999).

Based on the above, all tourism activities should strive to comply with this definition irrespective of which market segments they serve. This is important for food tourism, which relies heavily on the tourism infrastructure, cultural heritage and agriculture of a destination (Canadian Tourism Commission, 2003). It is therefore imperative that food tourism, which can be regarded as a new product, meets these requirements so as to contribute to sustainable tourism development.